This section addresses labeling and container management requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which regulates hazardous waste management as they relate to laboratory operations. Many states also have their own, sometimes more stringent, regulations.
The specific hazardous waste management requirements a lab must follow depend on the facility's generator status and the types of waste it produces. In other words, the generator status of the college or university will determine the type of requirements individual laboratories may need to follow. Some laboratories may have satellite accumulation areas and remove the waste as the containers become full. See the Satellite Accumulation Area of the tour for more information. Other labs may set up hazardous waste storage areas that are subject to more stringent regulations under RCRA. Given that most university facilities do not themselves transport hazardous waste to an off-site hazardous waste disposal facility, treat hazardous waste, or operate a hazardous waste disposal facility, the regulations governing these activities are not addressed in the tour. More typically, your facility would generate, store the waste and then have a contractor transport the waste off site for disposal.
To find out more about the RCRA conditionally exempt small quantity generator (CESQG) labeling and container management requirements for hazardous waste accumulation areas, and small quantity generators (SQGs) or Large Quantity Generators (LQGs), continue on in this section for more detailed information.